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Given that their previous album was called ‘Queens English’, it’s only fitting that when American surf-rockers The Malibooz came to name their new album, they christened it ‘QE 2’.
The roots of The Malibooz go way back to the early sixties when John Zambetti brought Walter Egan into the band, recorded their debut single, and like they say, the rest is history. Even though their sound was birthed in the US, you could argue that to an extent it was conceived in Britain. Hence the tribute to the British Invasion of the ’60s with ‘Queens English’ in 2010, something that continues now with the long-overdue follow-up; ‘QE 2’. Not so much British Invasion as in The Stones, The Beatles, and The Who, but maybe more a case of The Hollies, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, and The Spencer Davis Group. Add all these influences to a healthy dose of The Beach Boys surfer-ama and the end result is ‘QE 2’.
With three vocalists onboard (intended, sorry, not sorry) the vocal harmonies are rather lush indeed. Listening to ‘QE 2’ is akin to spacing out on the sofa on a wet Sunday afternoon and letting the harmonies from Zambetti, Egan, and Scott Monahan whisk you away to warmer climes. Opening track ‘Resist’ lives up to its name and is certainly hard to resist the urge to mellow out and let the warm vocals wash over you. The Wilson Brothers’ influence shines through on the likes of ‘Heaven’, where the sublime vocal harmonies remind the listener of a simpler, more organic time. It’s easy to imagine Jeff Lynne getting his hand on this one, sticking some gloss on it, and relaunching The Traveling Wilburys. Ditto the soft guitar picking tones of the delightful ‘New Morning’, which are simply stunning. The pace quickens on ‘So Amazing’ which is driven by a simple piano sound from Scott Monahan, and a hypnotic, pulsing drum beat from Martin Fera. It’s placed in the middle of the album for a reason; expect the unexpected, and comes as a total surprise.
The latter half of the album (side two) begins with more lush vocal harmonies on the dreamy ‘Drift Off’, another fairly prophetic song title. Damn, it is so mellow it’s hard not to drift off. ‘She’ follows on and the British influence is there front and center on a pleasant, whimsical track that highlights the potency of a simple, short two-minute pop song. If ‘She’ displays a British influence, then ‘I Will’ is clearly from Lubbock, Texas, the birthplace of Buddy Holly.
Ending on a harmony-heavy version of ‘We Can Work It Out’, which is actually quite trippy, ‘QE 2’ is an album chockfull of masterful songwriting from music veterans, where the song itself is king. Special mention has to go to the packaging, for the nautical theme continues inside the spine of the jewel case where you will find a metal anchor on a chain. Sometimes it is the little things to bring a smile to one’s face.
‘QE 2’ is available on Bandcamp, more information here.
Review – Dave
